


In The Final Minute

by infu



Series: Imminent Impact [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Completely different story with an OC cast, F/M, Inspired from a roleplay, part of a trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:28:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infu/pseuds/infu
Summary: Was it always too good to be true? Despite his best efforts, the ghosts of the planet he had left behind were going to torment him, searching for revenge against the only fall guy in this entire plan against the innocents of planet Corio.The screams echo on in the sinister, blood-stained halls of the damned. Even if alive, Callio was stuck down there with them, in his personal nightmare.
Series: Imminent Impact [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871881





	1. The Observant Organizer

One belonging to the Saiyan race would undoubtedly recognize Callio's role as the empire's current commander in chief, he who brought revolutionary strategies against the older generations' advices. His ambitious, respectful yet slightly rebellious attitude and semi-wealthy background were the most important factors for his success. Whenever there were dilemmas in front of him, he would go for the best decisions, regardless if they were good or not. Unfortunately for his mental development his father passed away few weeks after Callio's tenth birthday, leaving his wife to raise him alone. Only when things were getting difficult for them Callio's strict yet caring mother finally decided to send him to an academy for young officers with whatever money she had left. With a one-way ticket to a place very far from home and a rather depressing farewell, the then teenager Saiyan joined the academy with excellent results, quickly climbing the ladder thanks to his talent for battleplans and gregarious personality. He always looked forward to the next lesson, and he always tried to improve from his mistakes. This hopeful attitude earned him the praise of various veterans in the sector, including few letters of recommendation to the empire's emperor. Finally, all was going his way.

By the time he turned twenty, he was invited to one of the emperor's lavish parties: truly very important news for a middle-to-élite class warrior like him. Being invited to the emperor's parties for the first time is usually a bringer of big changes in one's daily life, and Callio's reaction was insanely joyous to say the least. From that party he could then easily become a worthy fighter and even work for the emperor himself! Before he would arrive however, the invited guests had to wait and in the meantime enjoy a couple of treats here and there: mostly food. Callio was idling in a standing position, nervously looking around himself from time to time in case someone wanted to grab his attention for any reason. Being polite is a simple yet efficient way to climb the ladder. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the private party until his eyes laid upon a stunning, curvaceous and extremely elegant woman roughly his age.

The way her hair danced in response to her turns and nods was what really impressed him at first, but then his gaze lowered to her back, her frame and the rest. Her colorful red attire fit her like a glove and her penetrating black eyes eventually met Callio's. He could hardly believe a divine being like her had noticed him just now and in his overly hopeful, romantic heart he could've sworn she felt the same way as soon as she looked at him. They weren't too far actually, just about six meters. Occasionally someone would pass between them, but their presence was completely ignored by both Saiyans. Once she started walking towards him he started acting busy by doing silly things such as staring at... Things and scratching his neck randomly. Eventually, her calm voice came to his ears.

 _"Hey. Have we met before?"_ Callio looked at her, locking eyes again. She was absolutely gorgeous.

 _"Ah-Uhh... No? I'm Callio."_ He barely managed to not stutter in front of her.

 _"Oh, okay. Name's Sarada. So why did you get invited?"_ Good question actually.

_"I-Uhh kind of don't know. I'm top of my class in the academy, if that helps you."_

_"You're one of these smart boys eh? That's good to hear. My parents have a strong friendship with the emperor, so I guess I'm here just because of my parents' name."_ Callio was surprised by her lack of self-esteem. Perfect occasion.

 _"Well... We could go eat something one of these days. Y'know."_ His nervousness made her giggle.

 _"You know what? You seem like a fun guy to hang around with. You look funny when you blush."_ Oh fuck, he was blushing then! Ack.

 _"O-Oh! Hehe. I think I'll go sit down at my table. My friends are waiting."_ He pointed to a powerhouse of warriors: a four-man army he belonged to.

 _"Alrighty then. Catch you later."_ And with that she left towards her own table, with her parents waiting there.

Callio quickly got rid of his shaky romantic emotions and hesitantly walked back towards the two Saiyans and the blue-ish skinned Frost Demon. Parsnap, the one with very long hair and a terrible style of clothing, spoke up.

_"Woooo-Wee! I can smell love a mile away!"_ He looked at Callio, knowing exactly what was going on inside of him. They were long-time friends of him after all: the other two Saiyans were also in the academy, but on the other hand the Frost Demon knew Callio's parents, so he became his friend ever since they met at his father's funeral. Callio immediately dismissed the claim.

_"Nah, just socializing y'know? Being shy gets me nowhere."_

_"Suuure sure. All this waiting's making me hungry."_

_"This isn't a backyard BBQ party, Parsnap. Act like you're a snob, that's how you gain their sympathy."_ This time it was Bage's turn to speak. He was the other Saiyan in the group, and the most cunning one. With a talent for engines and electronics, he's a master of booby traps and creative projects, thus making him a very valuable asset in any team. The Frost Demon in his 2nd transformation (Cooler's for reference), Blizzard, spoke up for last.

 _"I disagree. Anyway, I think the emperor is going to come down here anytime now."_ He looked towards the large staircase leading to the next floor, patiently waiting while the others were quietly chatting and occasionally taking a bite out of small passing portions of food, presumably prepared to keep the guests happy with small treats.  
  


Hours after the party had ended and everyone went their way, Callio was among the few last ones to still be inside the palace. After drinking and eating without exaggerating he decided to take a break by standing on one of the many balconies watching over the capital city’s lights. He never had much time to contemplate the beauty of nature, but in the few rare moments where he could relax, he would immediately stare at the planet’s surface and nature. Sometimes he’d even examine galleries of images showing other planets in the Milky Way, and he grew up to love planet Earth’s colors eventually. He should pay a visit there sometime. However, while he was in deep thought about nature he could feel footsteps approaching him: it was the emperor himself, in his shiny armor and regal, clean clothes. Callio almost jumped at the sight of the most powerful figure in the Saiyan Empire walking towards him with a slightly dingy look on his face, his usual one. Callio couldn’t obviously decipher the emperor’s body language, probably due to his high intelligence when talking with people inside his empire, or court. The older Saiyan put both hands on the balcony’s ledge, preparing himself to speak. Callio was clearly slightly nervous again just by feeling his menacing presence. One wrong sentence and all his dreams could be shattered, or worse. The emperor’s sigh gained Callio’s full attention for what he was about to say.

_“Paradisiac, isn’t it?”_ The deep tone in his voice gave Callio a very familiar feeling, as if he was talking to his father or grandpa.

 _“Of course. A striking scenery begs to be given attention to.”_ Most Saiyans his age wouldn’t bother to learn a complicated vocabulary, however he always wanted to leave the best impression with his knowledge, whatever the subject may be.

 _“Indeed. Futile discussions aside, recently I’ve been playing close attention to your career. At the age of twenty you’ve gained the highest possible ratings in our academy, despite having no prior relatives who could’ve helped you learn while you were still an infant, and that’s remarkable in my eyes. I’m also impressed by your successful endeavors within the academy.”_ _  
__  
_Callio didn’t expect to receive the emperor’s praise right in the first conversation they’ve ever had between the two of them. A strong sense of pride engulfed Callio’s mind, and he couldn’t help but shyly smile at his compliments.  
  
 _“I appreciate the compliments, but I wouldn’t have gone far without my parents’ support. External influence in the early stages of childhood is the biggest factor.”_

 _“Oh, I’m sure of it. Those around us shape us in the end. However, I didn’t want to talk to you just to praise your extraordinary talents, but I also have a proposal I’d like to tell you about.”_ Callio was now feeling very anxious. What could he possibly ask him? A proposal, even!

_“O-Oh? I’m all ears.”_

_“Now that you’re done with the academy, I would like to hire you as the leader of the Incident Relief Squadron. Unfortunately the IRS is inactive and formally disbanded, but if you could accept my offer, I would be more than honored to name you as its new leader. Whoever you want to hire in the squadron is up to you then.”_ Callio’s excitement exploded, but he managed to barely keep it bottled up inside of him.

 _“Well, your majesty, I would be more than honored to become part of the IRS! I’ve heard of it back when I was a child. Time flies, doesn’t it?”_ Unfortunately, he was too naive to comprehend the reasons behind the emperor’s actions, and as he walked away after ending the conversation, the emperor smirked almost evilly: that was step one.


	2. Winds of Change

The young recently promoted squad leader couldn't even begin to fathom how much responsibility came with his new role. In the next days following his informal "promotion", he immediately organized a meeting and invited Parsnap and Bage, leaving the reason a secret. Then finally, in Callio's house during a warm late afternoon, the trio of Saiyans gathered around the only table in the house, quietly paying attention to whatever Callio had to say. The leader's expressions gave an idea that something big and serious was going on, so they respectfully stayed quiet. He spoke up after sitting down for last.

_ "Alright, listen up. I have some very good news you two might appreciate." _

_ "Speak up, then!" _ Parsnap quickly intervened.

_ "The emperor himself hired me to rebuild the IRS! Guys, can you fucking believe it!? Me!" _ He suddenly switched to a more relaxed mood, chuckling in amusement upon seeing the look on their faces.

_ "...Are you fucking with us, Callio?" _ Bage asked calmly. He seemed rather annoyed.

_ "Not at all! We've got our own HQ in this city. We're practically an anti-terrorist force!" _ His excitement couldn't be faked, Bage noticed.

_ "I want to see it. When are we going?" _ Parsnap asked.

_ "In two days. Sounds good?" _

_ "You bet!" _ Parsnap leaned his back against the chair.

_ "Good! You guys want a drink?" _

_ "Mhh… I think I'll go take a nap in my house if you don't mind." _ Bage stood up, fixing his cheap suit and armor. Callio shrugged both physically and mentally, opening the fridge.

_ "No problem. Take care." _

_ "Do you have any heavy drinks? I don't mind getting drunk a little." _ Parsnap chuckled as he looked at Callio.

_ "Root beer." _

_ "Fucking love you man, no homo." _ Parsnap grabbed a bottle of beer given to him by Callio, and for the rest of the afternoon the two Saiyans celebrated their new position as IRS members. Intense training was obviously going to follow, and Callio was gonna need someone to lend him a hand about coming up with a good training plan for recruits. As he was pondering about many things without a worry in the world, his scouter beeped repeatedly. Someone was calling him, and Callio immediately grabbed it and put it on, pressing the button.

_ "Who's this?" _

_ "Hey. It's me, Sarada. We met at the party three days ago. Remember me?" _ Callio was nervous once again, but it couldn't be helped. He never flirted before.

_ "O-Ooh! Of course I do! How could I forget? Y-You still wanna go out, orrr…?" _ Sarada could hear his nervous occasional stuttering, but she had decided not to comment on it to avoid stressing him.

_ "Well, duh! Got a place in mind?" _ Crap! He totally forgot!

_ "Uhm… Well… I-I…" _

_ "Fiiine." _ She sighed.  _ "I know a restaurant. I'll mark it on your scouter." _

_ "Thanks. Sorry." _ He was slowly getting used to the situation, so less and less nervousness.

_ "Be there in half an hour, you goofball." _ She giggled loudly and Callio picked up on the irony. He ended the conversation soon after, moving towards the bedroom to choose his best clothes for such an occurrence. Blue set of clothes? Sure, why not. New haircut? Unnecessary. A quick shower? Absolutely necessary. He immediately undressed, jogging towards the bathroom. What a great week this has been.

Once Callio was done preparing himself for the date, he reached the restaurant four minutes early, while Sarada came two minutes early. The female was wearing a gorgeous set of red clothes that matched well with her reddish hair. Callio felt the same rush of ecstasy he felt for the first time, blushing slightly. This reaction pleased her a lot.

_ "Well then, you've got style! Look at these clothes, huh." _

_ "Thanks, you look good t-too. Let's go inside, shall we?" _

_ "Of course. I'm already hungry." _ She was still a Saiyan after all. The two waltzed in eagerly, sitting around their table that luckily nobody claimed at this time of day. Sarada put her hands together under her chin, staring at Callio.

_ "You're probably the guy with the most elegance I met. Not to mention your stupendous haircut, I love it!" _ Good one, Callio!

_ "Woah-Hehey, no need to make so many compliments! You're more attractive than I am." _

_ "Oh, shush." _ She looked away and grabbed the menu. Being Saiyans, they obviously chose meat-based dishes, a bottle of wine and one of water. After enough waiting the waiter took their orders, leaving the two of them to expect the dishes anytime soon.

_ "So… What do you do for a living?" _ Callio asked.

_ "I'm a scientist. You?" _

_ "I was recently promoted to leader of the IRS." _ Sarada chuckled, thinking that Callio was joking. However, she soon realized she was wrong, and her laughter died down.

_ "Wait. You weren't kidding?" _

_ "Nope." _

_ "But the IRS was disbanded years ago!" _

_ "The emperor nominated me as its new leader. I'm gonna get a stable paycheck now!" _

_ "Wow… Congrats, dude! I'm sure you'll make a fine leader." _

_ "I hope so. I have a bit of a problem now though." _

_ "And that is?" _

_ "I need to prepare a training segment of the recruitment course, but I don't know where to start." _ Callio wanted to directly ask her if she had any friends who could help him, but he didn't want to come off as rude. Sarada thought about it for a bit.

_ "Well, I know someone who can help you with that. I'll ask him tomorrow." _

_ "Oh, thank you so much. You're the best." _ And then came the dishes, and the two Saiyans stopped talking, too focused on their food to conversate. In the end the date was successful and both of them enjoyed each other's company. Before they would leave however, Sarada kissed Callio's cheek in a very sweet way, like a mother or a big sister would. Callio smiled shyly and the two of them left the scene. Love was in the air.  Two days after their gathering in Callio’s house, Parsnap and Bage landed in front of his house’s door again, waiting for him to show up and lead them towards the abandoned HQ. After enough waiting, the second youngest Saiyan in the group opened the door, stepping out in his usual fancy armor. He looked at the two Saiyans, then crossed his arms.

_ “Right. Ready to go, boys?” _ _   
_

_ “Yup.” _ Parsnap replied.

And with that Callio took off, followed by his friends. After flying for minutes, the trio landed in front of an old abandoned building. It didn’t age well, and Parsnap was the first one to notice with a slightly shocked reaction.   
  
_ “Tsk… Who could imagine this used to be a headquarter.” _

_ “We can worry about good looks later. Let’s take a look inside.” _ Callio stepped inside the already open doors, taking a look around him: suddenly Parsnap’s opinion sounded more appropriate now that he actually stepped inside.

_ “We’re gonna need to renovate everything, I guess. We’ll call some maintenance workers and flip this building in no time.” _ Parsnap kicked some rubble away out of annoyance, then commented.   


_ “They could’ve at least fixed it up before we arrived or something!” _ _   
_

_ “The IRS has just been reinstated. Give it some time, will you?” _ Parsnap rolled his eyes.

_ “So, what’s the first order of business, boss?” _ He looked at Callio. Bage on the other hand was by himself again.

_ “Once reparations are done, I’ll review various fighters’ dossiers and decide if they should be hired or not. Then we can start operating officially.” _

_ “Hm. Okay. Are we done here, then?” _ _   
_

_ “Yeah. I’ll stick around and see if I can find anything useful. You two can leave.” _

Parsnap and Bage didn’t need to be told twice, and they took off towards their respective homes. Callio was going to be a very busy man for the following weeks now.


	3. Code Silver

Within the same month, the IRS’s official reinstatement caused a third wave of civil unrest amongst the empire’s courtiers. The IRS was known for its worldwide espionage missions, even going as far as sabotaging rival countries or secretly killing those who opposed the emperor. They were powerful enough to own a small personal army, but they were too weak to backstab the emperor, and so they were always right where he wanted them to be: under his boot. Callio's arrival breathed fresh air in the decadent organization, and eventually he saw the fruits of his hard labour: dozens of agents were hired, Parsnap was made second in command, often overlooking the new recruits' training sessions through the captains' reports, and then taking the most appropriate decisions. Bage was on the other hand given the keys to the IRS's armory, therefore he was the one supplying the troops during special missions. He was also partially in charge of the maintenance wing, giving orders to repairmen and janitors through a small group of foremen. Being completely new to this type of job they were sloppy and forgetful for the most part, but eventually they got used to it and became extremely efficient. Now that three months have passed since the IRS' reinstatement, for the first time they received a new assignment: apparently a group of secessionist terrorists had taken over and locked down a ship, threatening to blow it up and kill everyone inside if their demands weren't met within 6 hours. Callio immediately set up an excellent plan to enter the ship and neutralize the enemy: Bage would hack into the ship's mainframe and silently deactivate the security system, Callio would sneak in by opening himself a tight entrance, Parsnap would follow. The trio immediately started setting up the plan, much to the rest of the organization's surprise, and they left the building. Various groups of IRS troops only had to lock down the area around the ship, track its movements and stand by for orders.

_ "Hurry it up, will you? Intel says they don't have scouters, so we don't have to lower our energy." _ That was a bit too convenient, but oh well.

_ "Shut your trap, Callio. Here, done. Now you can waltz in." _ Bage closed his PDA, looking at the two of them already flying towards the ship's ventilation system. Intel also had a blueprint of the ship that was studied by Callio on their way here, so this was going to be very easy. The leader of the IRS gently opened the external ventilation shaft, snuck inside with Parsnap, silently entered the engine room and immediately scanned the environment for enemies. For now the scouters had to be turned off: their obnoxiously loud beeps could reveal their position anytime.  Parsnap peeked from a nearby glass panel and spotted a couple of enemies standing idly in the corridor outside the engine room. Parsnap suggested to grab their attention and ambush them the second they'd walk in, an idea that Callio had no objection against. The second in command knocked a crate over, shattering it in four wooden panels. As a result, the two guards were alerted, and they carefully walked towards the door, opening it and pointing their obsolete guns at the apparently empty room. As soon as the second secessionist set foot inside, Parsnap went for a quick kill by snapping his neck, while Callio strangled the other. They were carrying blasters, but they decided to use them only if it was strictly necessary. The two men entered the tight lit up corridor and closed the door behind them. This was pretty exciting, especially for Parsnap.

Callio, going by memory, started walking towards the staircase that should lead to the sleeping quarters, and from there they would be able to sneak inside the cockpit and regain control, avoiding every enemy on the main deck. Callio and Parsnap passed by an empty infirmary, then stopped in front of a thick metallic sliding door. The only way to open the door without being spotted by the large group of secessionists would consist of grabbing a gas grenade, slightly opening the door manually, throwing it inside, putting on the masks and entering. Parsnap stuck with that idea and grabbed a gas grenade from his waistband while Callio very slightly opened the door to allow the grenade to fit right in perfectly. Parsnap aimed carefully, threw the grenade and Callio immediately shut down the door, waiting for the enemy soldiers on the other side to lose consciousness.  When the Secessionists fell silently without raising any alarm, Callio and Parsnap entered with masks on, menacingly walking towards a ventilation shaft leading to the cockpit. Parsnap opened it carefully then slid inside, followed by his only teammate. While crawling towards the cockpit they could hear various conversations, but eventually a pretty interesting name reached the Saiyan leader's sensitive ears. He carefully listened in, trying to grab any important info from the two armed strangers.

_ "Arcus said we must bring the shipment to him, only one guy enters. The rest stay out." _

_ "This Arcus guy… I don't know. Something's odd. How can we trust him?" _

_ "He's the emperor's bastard. Dude got rejected and now he wants revenge. Why shouldn't we trust him? He seems pretty honest to me. _

_ "Then how come nobody knows of this? Bastard sons cannot be hidden from the public." _

_ "Do I have to remind you that his father is the emperor himself? He probably sent to the oubliette those who blackmailed him." _

_ "Fair enough. What's inside the shipment?" _

_ "His messenger said "intel of most importance". You know the order: don't open it." _

_ "Tsk." _

After the two soldiers walked away, Callio noticed Parsnap’s stare against his focused face. Only then he remembered the task at hand, and slid inside the cockpit. The room seemed very busy and lively, with lights and beeps here and there giving constant data to the only person in the room, aside from the two IRS leaders. Noticing that the stranger in the cockpit had his back turned on them, Parsnap carelessly moved in to grab him by the shoulder and neutralize him in a specific position, and the victim didn’t have the sufficient reaction time required to defend himself. Seeing Parsnap’s quick movements, Callio decided to close the door to prevent anyone from seeing what's happening.  While Parsnap was neutralizing the foe and alerting Bage of their success, Callio noticed a notification pop up in the only terminal in the cockpit. It was a message, however it was encrypted and written in a specific code that the IRS hasn't translated yet. He moved towards the terminal, looked at the message and immediately copied it in his scouter for further investigations. Parsnap didn't seem too interested in what Callio was doing, after all he's the muscle of the group.

_ "Can we leave now?" _ Parsnap crossed his arms. He disliked neutralizing his enemies as he always went for the kill.

_ "Yes, we can." _

_ "First mission, first success. That's my style." _

_ "We can brag later. I want to decrypt this unknown message and see what's in it." _

_ "Why do you care so much? They're just a bunch of brats playing soldiers." _

_ "Because the message is protected with multiple layers of security. This has got to be important for our operation's progress." _ The operation in case had started when various small provincial uprisings occurred here and there with the intent of sabotaging. However, once it developed into de facto terrorism, the operation was planned by Callio himself, under the emperor's suggestions. After that, the troops under their command quickly took over the ship, bringing it back on the right hands.  Half an hour later, Callio returned home after a long flight and lazily opened the door. He felt sore and exhausted as he wasted energy traveling at full speed. Sarada, her now mate and housewife after three months of dating, walked up to him and helped him take off his armor. They’ve been living together for two weeks now, but they quickly picked up on each others’ habits. Callio’s evening routine was the following: he’d take off his armor, step into the bathroom, take a warm quick shower, eat dinner with Sarada, maybe get laid afterwards or simply relax on the couch and then they’d go to sleep. Every once in a while Sarada asked him to spar with him just for fun, and how could a Saiyan object such request?   
  
_ “Hey there, honey. Had a rough day? You look beat.” _ _   
_

_ “Kind of. Had to neutralize a ship full of terrorists or whatever they are.” _ _   
_

_ “ _ _ And it went well, right?” _ _   
_

_ “Absolutely.” _ _   
_

_ “Right then! I’ll celebrate with a very delicious dinner. How’s that sound?” She smiled at him. _ _   
_

_ “Sounds like the best thing a Saiyan could ask. I still need to learn how to cook.” _ _   
_

_ “Preposterous! You’re a man, not a puny woman like me!” _ Callio picked up on the obvious sarcasm. He couldn’t care less about one’s gender, to him actual results mattered more than anything else, and Sarada knew this very well. Callio stepped in the shower naked, and the female didn’t mind peeking at his back just for a second. A woman’s a woman. After Callio closed the door, she immediately got to work in the kitchen with a meat based dinner, as always.


	4. The Message

In the first days following the successful mission, Callio’s mind was almost completely focused on this encrypted message. In order to decrypt a message, Callio thought, he first needed to identify the type of encryption, find or create a translation, and decrypt the message to gather any important intel. So far, he’s been busy searching folder after folder full of different encryption methods known on the planet, but to no success. This meant the resistance group opposing the IRS was using a foreign system coming from a completely different civilization altogether, which made the task much harder. There are over thirty-eight trillion sentient beings in this universe, so he needed to go by exclusion. Namekians? No, they don’t use such security. Motorians? Dinosaurs don’t use codes. Everyone outside the planet’s diplomatic reach? Not even the rebels would be able to get in contact with civilizations too far away from the planet.

Now the search was narrowed down to 50 billion sentient beings, however it was still not enough. Too many options to pick from. Callio however suddenly remembered that the empire and its planet communicate only with fellow civilizations inside the Universal Trade Pact founded a couple of centuries ago. Despite various years here and there of instability, the UTP survived its worst troubles and is now one of the strongest alliances in the universe. This narrowed down the search by a great quantity, since the UTP’s members were few, but powerful nonetheless. Twelve planets were left, however Callio still couldn’t pinpoint the origin of the code used to encrypt the message. The only way one would know of another planets’ security systems consisted of visiting said planet and studying its history. So trade colonies are excluded from the search, narrowing it down to four: Eis, Earth, Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Eridani. Eis is a planet belonging to the Frost Demon race, which meant there couldn’t be a working security system for the planet when every inhabitant of its race had their own ships and equipment.    
  
And then there were three.

Callio was very familiar with Earth’s history and civilization, despite having never visited it. He was aware of the fact that dozens upon dozens of different encryption methods were used throughout Earth’s history, which meant Earth was most likely the planet possessing the translation for this message. Just to make sure, he reviewed Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Eridani’s databases, finding that Alpha Centauri only possessed one encryption method which was found and translated by the empire, while Epsilon Eridani’s system was considered outdated and inefficient, therefore it wouldn’t even need a translation to decode it, which was not this message’s case. This left Callio only with Earth to investigate on. It was gonna take a long while to decode the entirety of the message, however Callio’s duty came before his pleasures, and as a responsible leader he needed to be a role model. While he was searching for all of Earth’s encryption methods and putting them on a list, Bage walked in with his scouter on.

_ “Callio, your sister wants to talk with you. She says your scouter is turned off.” _

_ “Oh. Yeah, I turned it off to avoid being disturbed in the middle of my work. What did she say?” _ _   
_

_ “She told me that she’s about to give birth.”  _ FUCK! Callio completely forgot that Fennle, her sister, was nine months pregnant and about to give birth. She needed someone to comfort her, so it was Callio’s duty as the closest relative alive to aid her when in need. However, there was also the message he needed to worry about. Bage noticed this.

_ “Do you want me to work on it while you’re there?” _ _   
_

_ “Oh, that’d be perfect if you could.” _

_ “No worries, then. Decrypt the message, right?” _

_ “Yes. I’ve noted all of Earth’s different encryption methods used throughout history, so start from those and see if the translation works perfectly.” _

_ “You got it, boss. I’ll take care of it.” _

_ “I owe you one, Bage.”  _ With that, Callio stormed out of the room and headed at full speed towards Fennle’s home. Saiyan women don’t give birth in hospitals since they’re much stronger and need less attention. The Saiyan commander barged inside the home, and her sister’s voice called to him from the bedroom.

_ “Callio, I’m in the bedroom. I thought you weren’t gonna show up.” _ Her voice was a little bit pained by the birth phase, however it wasn’t anything too annoying. Callio entered the room and noticed her sister lied down on the bed. He took a couple of steps towards her, holding her hand and looking at her.

_ “How big is your kid?! Your belly is huge!” _ He seemed curious and afraid at the same time. Fennle giggled.

_ “I’m sure he’ll grow up to be a strong boy, just like his uncle.” _ She looked up to him, smiling warmly. Needless to say she always looked up to him, being the younger sibling.

_ “Now now, no need to make so many compliments.” _

_ “How are things between you and Sarada?” _

_ “Fantastic. We’ve been getting along quite nicely so far.” _

_ “That’s great to hear. So when you two gonna get at it?” _ By get at it she meant mating to reproduce, which was obvious to Callio.

_ “Well, we’re gonna do it once she feels like becoming a mother. We’ve been together for just a few months, give it a while will you?” _ They both chuckled to lighten up the mood.

Half an hour later, the baby came out completely and Callio took care of carefully cutting the umbilical cord, then he put him around Sarada’s arms, who hugged the baby gently and caringly. The look on her face said it all: she fell in total love with her boy.

_ “What’s his name?” _

_ “I’m gonna name him… Fannel.” _

A couple of hours later, Callio returned to his office in the IRS building and met both Parsnap and Bage in that respective order. Bage stood up from the chair as soon as Callio entered the room, looking at him with a cocky grin. This usually meant very good news.   
  
_ “You made the right call. They took an encryption method from Earth.” _ Callio made a smug face to that statement.

_"Heh, guess I make a good detective."_

_ “I’ve looked at the translation method in the universal network.” _ (to make clarity for the reader, the universal network is the space equivalent of the internet)

_ “Did you manage to decode some of it?” _ _   
_

_ “Only the first sentence. It took me three hours just for that.” _

_ “Holy shit. That slow?” _ _   
_

_ “ _ _ Unfortunately, yes.” _

_ “It’s gonna take me forty-eight hours of non-stop work just to get to the end of it.” _

_ “We can take turns if you want.” _

_ “If you’re up for it.” _

_ “Hey, I don’t have anything to do with my current position.” _

_ “You shouldn’t underestimate your importance.” _

_ “I’m not.”  _ Callio sat down, looking at the screen in front of him to read the translated text.

**Agent,**

**Everything is going as intended. The operation has started in the right direction, and the shipments have been successfully moved to a safer location on the planet.**

_ “Have you gathered any interesting intel from what you’ve read? They’re talking about shipments apparently.” _

_ “I can’t really start an investigation with just that as the base. We’re gonna need to dig up more.” _

_ “It’s gonna take me a while to study the translation sheet. Hopefully we won’t be too late.” _

_ “I assure you we won’t.” _

Callio looked back towards the monitor, seemingly worried for the future. He suddenly felt a sense of urgency in his head, clouding any other thought. This was the biggest discovery in years, and Bage could feel the tension in the room. He walked outside without saying a word, closing the door behind him.

Callio grabbed the sheet, starting to work diligently.


	5. Further Investigation

Half a day later, Callio had successfully decoded more sentences, adding them up to the full translation. Instead of bringing work home with him, he decided to leave the translation there for Bage in case he wanted to continue it. As soon as Callio set foot in his home, he was immediately greeted by a very curious Sarada who was just informed of Fennle’s childbirth.

_ “Hey! Congratulations for your sister!” _ _   
_ _ “Thanks, honey. I’m very proud of her.” _

_ “She must be a tough one, eh?” _ _   
_ _ “Oh, you bet. She was very tough back when we were kids. Always getting in fights.” _

_ “So… How’s work?” _

_ “Tedious as always.” _

_ “I see. Well, I’ll prepare dinner then.” _

_ “Right.”  _

Callio didn’t seem to keen on conversating or taking his mind away from his main objective at work, however Sarada pretended to be unaware of his unusual behavior. He’s the leader of the IRS, sometimes you gotta bring your work home. This puzzle was torturing his mind: he couldn’t sleep knowing how important the message’s contents could be. Something that could turn around the whole operation and earn praise from society. However, just the day after this short conversation, Callio was suddenly stuck in the decryption process due to a warning. The message couldn’t be fully translated unless you had a very specific key to insert in the terminal. Callio’s disappointment was immeasurable: days and days of tedious decryption just to discover it was all in vain unless he had some key hidden God knows where. Parsnap walked in hurriedly.   
  
_ “Callio.” _ _   
_

_ “ _ _ What is it?” _ _   
_

_ “We have a lead on this terrorist group. A big exchange is about to happen between the leader of the group and another unknown party involved.” _ Callio almost jumped from his seat, making a very surprised face. This was a godsend.   


_ “When is it happening?” _

_ “In two hours.” _ _   
_

_ “Two hours?! Was that why you were hurrying to tell me?” _ _   
_

_ “Yes! Let’s go! Bage is waiting for us outside.” _ Callio now actually jumped from his seat, rushing with Parsnap towards the outside area where all the ships were stored. Bage was driving the ship of course, being a genius on the subject of technology and machines.   


_ “We’re gonna land a bit far from their position, so you’re gonna have to fly over there for the last few kilometers.” _ _   
_

_ “ _ _ It’s fine. What should we expect on arrival?” _ _   
_

_ “We don’t have enough intel to make an accurate description. What Parsnap’s told you is literally what we know.” _ _   
_

_ “Hm.” _ Callio expected something better, but whatever. It didn’t take long for the small ship to enter the “red area” where the meeting would take place, and tension was obviously in the air inside the ship. What if they got the location wrong, or what if they were discovered? They were gambling on the enemy’s ignorance.   
  
The ship then silently stopped above the street, and the duo of trained killers quickly landed on the ground, followed by a squad of units under their command. With a rapid pace and blasters in hand, the squadron of eight soldiers quickly approached the scene, entering an abandoned building and stopping on the rooftop, waiting for them to show up. And eventually, so they did. From a corner of a nearby building showed up a group of unrecognizable armed men protecting someone and… Something in particular. Upon further inspection, Callio identified the unknown object as a small, pitch black box. You could easily hold it on one hand, however it wasn’t exactly tiny enough to put it in your clothes. The person carrying this precious box was none other than Arcus himself, the emperor’s bastard son disowned at a young age over matters he couldn’t control. Callio could also notice he wore an eyepatch, hinting at the fact that one of his eyes was taken out of his head, thus having only one eye to his name. Callio turned around to face Parsnap and the rest of the group, keeping his voice and his head low.   
  
_ “That’s Arcus. The emperor’s son.” _ _   
_

_ “Why would the emperor’s son be here, Callio? Be realistic.” _ _   
_

_ “Perhaps a personal vendetta against his father? He’s a bastard, remember?” _ _   
_

_ “Mmh… Whatever. I just wanna smash his head in and get my paycheck.” _

_ “You leave a blood trail behind you everywhere you go, don’t you?” _ _   
_

_ “Hehe, maybe. Prison does teach you some things.” _

At some point, another party entered the exchange: this time it’s just a bunch of unrecognizable armed men without a representative. This was Callio’s moment: he gave a signal with his hand, and the squadron opened fire on the exchange, making blasts rain down upon the shady Saiyans as some were injured, three of them among the two parties died and Arcus took cover. Unfortunately the box fell on the ground and it couldn’t be retrieved due to the covering fire. As part of the plan, Parsnap and Callio jumped from the rooftop to collect the box, but Arcus was already running away with it. He somehow managed to grab it in the middle of the three-way shootout, with Callio and Parsnap hot on the trail. They were able to catch him and force him to fight the two of them to get through. Arcus spoke up as he dropped the small chest right behind him.   
  
_ “So you two are the new leaders of the IRS. You must have the emperor’s arm right up your ass all the way to the elbow.” _ _   
_

_ “You’re about to have my boot up yours, how’s that sound?” _ Parsnap threatened him. Callio also spoke up.   


_ “What do you think you’re doing? The odds are in our favour.” _

_ “You’d be surprised of how many disagree with the emperor’s policies. They consider me the real emperor, not him. He was supposed to give the title to me once he grew too old to hold a gun, however he disowned me as he knew I was much better than him.” _ Callio had the feeling there was some truth among these lines, but Arcus’ ego made it hard to distinguish the truth from the arrogant talk.   


_ “So that’s it? You’re on a personal vendetta against your own bloodline? How pathetic can that be?” _ Callio was voluntarily pushing the wrong buttons.   


_ “I don’t expect some kid like you to understand these matters. His plans are much more dangerous than you think, and soon enough you’ll hate yourself for what you’ll be told to do. Mark my words.” _ Callio cocked an eyebrow at that statement, but then Parsnap took control of the conversation by ending it abruptly.

_ “Enough! You’re going down!” _ Parsnap took off at full speed towards Arcus, his aura manifesting as he increased his energy output to combat Arcus. Oddly enough, despite being at a disadvantage, Arcus seemed very calm. Perhaps he knew something they didn’t? Callio followed Parsnap in the battle, but soon enough they found themselves to be overpowered by Arcus. Were they too young to compete? Probably not, however Arcus was an élite Saiyan, so that might be an explanation. It started seemingly well, but then Arcus managed to land a punch against Callio’s gut, sending him flying against a nearby wall and smashing it. This left Parsnap and Arcus in an one-on-one, to which Parsnap had trouble defending himself to. Despite how things went badly for Callio, the imminent threat Arcus represented gave Parsnap the incentive to push forward and fight like a daredevil, even surprising Arcus with that much courage. Parsnap managed to trick him into raising his guard too high, and Parsnap went for a fake punch to the gut, to which Arcus promptly reacted by defending himself. However Parsnap rose his head and went for a spinning kick to his face, effectively sending him backwards against a metal fence. Callio caught up with Parsnap, feeling hurt from Arcus’ attacks and that last punch.   
  
_ “Y’alright?” _ _   
_

_ “Not quite, but I’ll manage.” _ Callio said, looking at Arcus as he had trouble getting up.   


_ “How the fuck did you fight him like that? He was doing well against the two of us!” _ _   
_

_ “When you fear your enemy, the real fight starts.” _ So Parsnap admitted to fearing Arcus a little during that fight, however he shrugged that emotion off since he won. Arcus managed to take off at full speed while they were looking at the odd box, however they couldn’t care less: they had what they came for. Bage came to pick them up, and in a matter of hours they were back at the monotonous offices, with Callio opening the box to find some sort of key. Parsnap and Bage were watching just behind him, curious like him. Callio stared at the object.

_ “Is this what they were protecting?” Callio asked to himself. _

_ “I got beat up over a key? Why did I agree to this…” _ Parsnap rolled his eyes.   


_ “Perhaps… I could use this to decrypt the message!” _ He excitedly inserted the key into the terminal, and so the screen informed Callio that the message was being decrypted, along with a percentage and a bar slowly being filled. It was gonna take some hours. Joy filled the room: this was a groundbreaking piece of evidence.

_ “Okay, nobody touch the terminal, we’ll let it decode this message. We’ll come back tomorrow and read the message to find any clues. I’ll tell the boys to put up extra security measures this time, just to make sure.” _   


_ “Good idea. Let’s go celebrate with a drink!” _

_ “Of course, Parsnap. You in, Bage?” _

_ “You bet.” _


	6. Tracked and Marked

That night, Callio slept soundly, like a baby. Probably because having finally found a way to full decrypt the message wasn’t the only good thing that happened to him today. Sarada finally wanted to mate properly and become a mother, and so it happened just a couple of hours ago. It felt like a dream, honestly. He was lucky to have a wonderful woman by his side. First his new job as leader of the IRS, then Sarada came into his life like a tornado, then his sister gave birth to a beautiful hybrid Saiyan boy, and now he just cracked a tough code to decipher after successfully beating the crap out of some sort of terrorist with an ego. Not that he’d care, anyway. He was on the apex of his life and still at a fairly young age. It was factual, and that definitely boosted his morale like no other thing. A nice job, a nice house and a nice family: he earned all three of these things and still had plenty of time left to enjoy life. How can one have nightmares with such a positive situation? 

Well, very soon Callio will.

He woke up early in the morning as usual, even earlier than Sarada today. He probably felt over-joyous, and so he couldn’t wait to start the day and reap the benefits of his hard work. And so, after quickly dressing and kissing Sarada goodbye without waking her up, he took off at full speed for the IRS building, where Parsnap and Bage would already wait for him with a… Sombre look on their faces? Callio thought they were just gonna pull a prank on him or something like that, right? He gently landed, still keeping a smile on his face.

_ “Hey guys. What are you two hardhats all glum about?” _ Bage and Parsnap looked at each other for a second, as if they secretly understood something that Callio still didn’t comprehend.

_ “That key was a bust. It locked the terminal down and stole all of our data. There has been a major leak, and I’m not sure how much data was in there. Definitely enough to be something to worry about.” _ Parsnap said it with all the courage he could muster. Callio’s face switched to one of mixed feelings, however with every passing second his anger consolidated more and more, and this scared Parsnap just a bit. Sometimes he could be very menacing, and he knew this very well. Bage on the other hand didn’t make eye contact for the entirety of the conversation. This was bad. Really bad.  Callio silently walked towards his office, where his locked terminal was used to decipher the message. It was in fact completely locked, only with a warning sign on the screen signaling that you essentially needed an engineer to factory reset it and remove what’s been causing the lock. Bage and Parsnap were not too far behind, but not too close to avoid him accidentally taking out his anger on them. Bage spoke up.

_ “I tried to take out the key, but even then it was still locked. This can only mean the hardware was permanently damaged, so a factory reset would be completely useless.” _ This meant they literally had to throw the terminal in the trash. Great.

_ “I see…” _ That was the first thing he said in long minutes since the bad news were broken to him. He was fighting to keep his anger bottled in.

_ “...And what was leaked, specifically?” _ He asked Bage again with a shaky tone.

_ “Names of all of our agents, their home coordinates and their role in the IRS. They have all of our names, yours included. You might wanna move to another home.” _

_ “Hell no. We’re gonna take the fight to them and beat the shit out of Arcus. Again.” _ He looked like he was about to punch a hole in the wall. That deadly glare in his eyes was what made Parsnap respect Callio in their friendship, and that’s what in the end gave him unquestionable leadership.

_ “His location is volatile, I doubt we can track him down easily.” _

_ “FIND HIM,  _ **_I SAID_ ** _!” _ Out of unbridled anger, he destroyed his desk with both fists smashed against it, shattering it in half. Bage flinched, Parsnap rose both eyebrows. Bage nodded, quickly walking away without saying a word. Parsnap stood there, partially unimpressed.   
  
_ “We’ll knock some sense into that fool. Don’t sweat it, boss.” _

_ “You bet we will. We’ll make him give us the real key, and then nothing will stop me from throwing him in jail.” _

_ “I’ll go overlook the new recruits’ training in the meantime.” _ He said as he walked away, leaving Callio alone with a broken desk but an unbroken spirit. The search for Arcus was on again, and after hours of bashing his head against the wall, Bage suddenly received a voice message towards his scouter. He hesitated at first, but then he pressed a button and carefully listened to the voice. It was Arcus’.

_ “To the misled soldiers of the emperor who are listening to this message, I inform you that your data has been leaked and now we possess it. We know where you live, what you do for a living and what you’ve been doing for the past weeks. Make no mistake: our location cannot be traced or else we’ll harm those close to you if need be. We have the leader of the IRS’ personal data, including his sister’s and his mate’s whereabouts. I demand you return the encryption key to us, and in return we will undo the leak ourselves. Any attempt to hinder our progress will be taken as a threat to us. The leader must return the key on these exact coordinates in three hours, alone. You are not our enemy.” _ And with that, the voice message ended. Bage quickly rushed towards Callio, telling him about this urgent message.   
  
_ “Callio.” _

_ “What is it?” _ _   
_ _ “I’ve just received a message from Arcus. He was referring to you specifically, take a listen.”  _ He said as he sent the message to Callio. He pushed a button, letting the scouter open the message and start it to listen. Needless to say that Callio’s emotions shifted to neutrality to anger and then back to a hopeful look, all in the span of forty seconds.

_ “Fine, let’s do this. The last thing I want to do is get her involved into this.” _

_ “But Callio, what if he’s lying and he just wants to lead you into a trap?” _

_ “Then I’ll just have to hope you’re wrong. Arcus isn’t an idiot: he can see tricks if I try something funny.” _

_ “...Good luck, then.” _

_ “I’m gonna go there now and wait for him to show up.” _

_ “You sure?” _

_ “Absolutely.” _

He immediately grabbed the fake encryption key, put it somewhere inside his armor, walking outside without saying a word to Bage or Parsnap after that conversation. He took off at full speed, headed for the area where the coordinates on his scouter would lead him to. Minutes later he gently landed, looking around himself with an aura of uncertainty to it. He was alone this time, and he felt a bit uneasy at the thought that he was relying on Arcus’ good word. Those were gonna be the longest two and half hours of his life, and now that Sarada’s safety was on the line, he felt more threatened than ever. This was a big menace, and he made the mistake of taking the issue lightly for too long now.


	7. A Byzantine Power Game

Enough waiting had paid off, as Callio eventually noticed Arcus’ lonely silhouette approaching Callio. He took a sigh of relief as he realized Bage was wrong about Arcus leading him into a trap, so that gave him an extra reason to trust Arcus, even if they were enemies. The older Saiyan stopped in front of Callio, close enough for him to give Arcus the key without attacking in a sneaky way. The two of them stared at each other for about ten seconds, but eventually the de-facto rebel spoke up.

_ “Callio, you have something I need.” _

_ “How lowly of you to blackmail your enemies.” _ Being a Saiyan, he couldn’t resist the urge to taunt him a little bit. Arcus ignored it.

_ “We do what we must to survive. Don’t speak as if you’re the epitome of justice.” _

_ “You’re in no position to judge my moral standpoint. You want this filthy key? Take it.” _ He extended his arm to give him the key, to which Arcus immediately grabbed it from his hands.

_ “I will honor my end of the deal and undo the leak as promised. Consider yourself safe from now on.” _

Callio growled at Arcus’ cocky attitude, or at least that’s what he thought his attitude was made up by. However, unbeknownst to the two of them someone was spying on the conversation, someone unrecognizable by anyone. Like a ghost, he disappeared as he saw Callio give him the key, turning on his scouter to inform someone in particular.

_ “He did it, Your Majesty.” _ He could hear a sigh on the other end of the conversation.   


_ “Fine. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” _

_ “Is that so? How can I trust your word?”  _ Callio crossed his arms.

_ “Did I betray your trust when I said I was going to show up alone?”  _ He had a point, and so Callio shrugged as he turned his back to Arcus. However the older Saiyan stopped him before he could leave.

_ “I didn’t know you were Fennle’s half-brother.”  _ The younger Saiyan cocked an eyebrow to that statement, turning around with a suspicious look on his face.

_ “What are you on about?” _ Half-brother? Since when?

_ “Hasn’t she told you?” _

_ “Told you what? Get to the point.” _

_ “She is working with me. She’s part of this organization.” _ Callio was silent for a bit.

_ “Bullshit.” _

_ “Not at all. Why is that, do you think?” _

_ “Why is what?! Explain yourself!”  _ He looked like he was about to get in a brawl with Arcus, despite the fellow Saiyan’s calm attitude.

_ “She’s a hybrid, Callio. Her mother was a Tuffle and her father a Saiyan. I suppose she also kept that a secret from you.” _ Callio lost all of his anger, replaced by a sense of dread. Not because his father was disloyal to Callio’s mother, but because Tuffles and Tuffle hybrids were considered inferiors in the eyes of the emperor. Suddenly, he realized she was a target if the emperor felt like starting the project now.

_ “Go on.” _

_ “We’re trying to save as many Tuffles as possible from something much major involving their race. I overheard my father’s conversations several times back when I was still a young heir to the throne. He wants to get rid of all of them, Callio, your sister included.” _

_ “But she gave birth to a child now! How can she help your organization if she has to look after Fannel?” _

_ “So that’s his name. Hm. Well… She was just an informant, because taking bigger risks would’ve gotten her killed.”  _ Callio could honestly understand why Fennle hid this from him: hybrids are usually targets of unwarranted hatred on this planet.

_ “...So what now?” _

_ “The best course of action is to close a blind eye to this fact, or else you too will be a target. Pretend this never happened.” _

_ “That’s obvious. Is that all?” _

_ “For now, yes.”  _ Callio quickly took off without saying a word, more worried about his position in this situation than anything else. He couldn’t tell Parsnap or Bage about this, and he couldn’t talk to Fennle about her being a spy for her own safety. He was walking a tightrope, and there was nobody that could help him but Blizzard, and so he decided to have a brief meeting with the Frost Demon. He turned on his scouter, trying to get in contact with him. It didn’t take long for Callio to hear his clean, deep voice on the other end of the conversation.   
  
_ “Yes?” _ _   
_

_ “Blizzard, it’s me, Callio. The situation here’s unbearable, and I need your help.” _

_ “Shoot.” _

_ “I’ll tell you once I get to your spaceship. Where is it?” _

_ “Just a couple of stars away from your position. I’ll be there in a jiffy.” _

_ “Thanks.” _ And so he returned home, waiting for him to show up. He wasn’t sure how much time Blizzard meant by “jiffy”, but he definitely still had time to take care of various matters, like for example asking various things to Fennle once she’s free from her intriguing job. Not too long later, and the young ambitious Saiyan was in Blizzard’s spacious yet modest room. Every time he entered his spaceship he was surprised by something new in the environment. The bigger, foreign creature was looking outside of the window in anticipation for his arrival. His voice would make him turn around.

_ “Hey, Blizzard.” _

_ “Yes?” _

_ “I’ll be honest with you: I’m in deep shit.” _

_ “How deep?” _

_ “Neck-deep. My sister’s a spy working for the enemy I’m supposed to battle as part of my duty and now I can’t bring myself to attack Arcus’ organization, knowing that it could possibly lead to her death. However, if I suddenly stopped caring about them it’d raise suspicions among the IRS, and then the emperor would probably throw me in jail once he figures out my sister’s a de-facto terrorist. I’m walking on a tightrope, and I don’t know where that’ll lead me.” _

_ “It’s clear that you have to make a decision now. Probably the most difficult one a person has to make.” _

_ “And that is?” _

_ “It’s either your family or your country, Callio.”  _ Callio’s jaw almost dropped to that statement, even if he knew it was true. He wanted to wake up from the nightmare he was in.

_ “But… It’s taken me so long to get where I am.” _

_ “You must always think about where you’ll be, not where you are. This applies both in life and in combat.” _

_ “Curse me for allowing this to happen.” _

_ “Don’t, worry about the solution to this problem for the time being. Is there anything else you need?” _

_ “No, thanks. I’ll return home now.” _

And so, the spaceship dropped him near his house, quickly leaving the atmosphere as he opened the door and closed it behind him, sitting on the couch as he ran a hand down his hair to figure out a decent plan. Sarada wasn’t home for the time being as her presence was needed elsewhere for family matters, thus leaving him alone without anyone to support him but a Frost Demon. The silence was about to be broken by Callio’s scouter beeping repeatedly, signaling the arrival of a message. As soon as he read the contents of the message, he realized the emperor himself requested his presence in the palace. Has he figured out something about Fennle? Hopefully not. It seemed rather urgent, so Callio quickly stormed out of his house and flew all the way to the palace, landing in front of the gates and wait to be given access by the royal guards surveilling the place. It didn’t take long for him to enter the giant royal household, passing by maids, foremen, janitors and marching soldiers. He was immediately sent to the emperor’s quarters, and so Callio went there without hesitating. As soon as he entered, the air felt heavy, full of tension for what the emperor was about to say about those recent events. He could easily sentence the young IRS leader to death if he felt like it, however that was hardly something he’d rely on against his enemies. The emperor was on the balcony, essentially telling Callio to come outside next to him. The IRS leader did so, and then there was a long pause.

_ “Callio. I believe there is something we should talk about.” _

_ “Yeah… I guess so.” _

_ “It’s been a long time since I nominated you leader of the IRS, and I commend your leadership. I knew you were the right candidate.” _

_ “Whatever, get to the point.” _

_ “You’ve made a mistake. Someone told me you metaphorically bent the knee in the face of a terrorist threat and returned an encryption key which can be used to decipher their messages.” _

_ “They key was a bust, it damaged the hardware and bricked my terminal. Personal data was leaked, what else was I supposed to do?” _ He was trying to appeal to the emperor’s better judgement, even if the look on his face was one of disappointment.

_ “You should’ve eliminated those who gained access to the data from the get go. And yet you decided to bargain with a literal bunch of terrorists on a personal vendetta.” _

_ “The IRS’s safety was a risk. It was either that or dozens of agents would’ve been blackmailed.” _

_ “And despite your efforts, what did you gain from that? Absolutely nothing. Back to square one. You decided to sacrifice the progress you’ve made against them over coordinates and names. But… I’m willing to put that behind me if you do as I say.” _

_ “...Go on.” _ He was a bit nervous: what was he going to ask? Something impossible so that he would slip and die?

_ “There’s a… Project that’s been on my mind for so long. My father’s plan to fully access this planet’s and this race’s potential. You see, each planet has their own species: Eis has Frost Demons, Earth has Humans, Namek has Namekians and so on. However, Corio doesn’t have only Saiyans.” _

_ “So? Multiple cultures enrich one’s knowledge.” _

_ “Knowledge alone leads us nowhere as a species. We must be ready for war if we want to survive any potential threats coming from outer space. We must assume direct control of all of this planet’s resources for the progress of the Saiyan civilization, nolens volens.” _

_ “We can’t just kick them out of Corio: that’d be a massive scandal everyone would take notice of!” _

_ “The Universal Trade Pact is a joke. My father made the idiotic decision of joining that blasted anti-Saiyan pact just to gain safe trade routes across space. There are many enemies out there that want to wipe out the Saiyans, and I will make sure that won’t happen.” _

_“Don’t tell me…”_ He froze at what the emperor meant. Could he really do that without hesitating?

_ “Yes, Callio. I want to exterminate the Tuffles and rule over all of Corio. It’s either this, or our extinction.” _

_ “I-I… This is preposterous!” _ He turned around as he walked back inside with a couple of steps, stopping in the middle of the room while the emperor followed him with his eyes.

_ “Don’t think that you can get away with what you’ve done scot free. I called you because as the leader of the IRS, your faction is the one that carries out my special orders. If you refuse to commence the cleansing operation then I will have you, your family and your friends imprisoned for life. However, if you carry out this mission successfully, I will forgive you for your mistakes.” _

Callio started to tap his foot on the ground, massage the back of his neck, feel his sweat cold, and even feel chills on his back at the mention of his family being imprisoned. Every word the emperor had uttered came out like a painful punch to the chest, making him grow more stressed by the second. In a matter of a few sentences, the fate of an entire race was in his hands and his alone. How can one man think of this without shaking a little? He took a deep breath to calm down, then made eye contact with him again. It had to be done, for the safety of his family at least. This decision was going to haunt him for the rest of his life, and he knew this very well.

_ “I accept.” _


	8. Purge the Rot

It was a long day in the IRS’ building. Parsnap and Bage waited in the staff room as the recruits were resting for the time being, and the armory was closed temporarily due to maintenance work. Out of sheer boredom and a lack of food, the two of them decided to conversate to kill time.

 _“Hey.”_ Parsnap started.

_“Yeah?”_

_“Where the hell is Callio? Shouldn’t he be behind his desk?”_

_“Don’t know honestly. That whole bricked terminal issue must’ve annoyed him a lot.”_

_“Yeah, but we still have a job to do.”_

_“It’s difficult to do a good job when your tools don’t work and your missions are scarce. I guess it’s part of the contract: you can’t be shooting bad guys all day long, can you?”_

_“Ehh… I like doing that though. It makes me feel alive.”_ Bage rolled his eyes.

 _“There are other things to do outside of homicides.”_ Parsnap was about to retort when they saw Callio storm by their room with a glum look on his face. Bage stood up, quickly following him to ask him where he went and all. Parsnap followed behind.

 _“Hey, Callio! Callio!”_ The IRS leader ignored him, but at the fourth time his name was called he suddenly turned around. He could see the fear in Callio’s eyes.

 _“What is it?!”_ His voice was a bit shaky, even if he was trying his hardest to hide it. Bage was dumbstruck by his strangely nervous attitude, because Callio never showed that side of himself to the rest of the trio.

_“...Where have you been?”_

_“The emperor called me. He said he wanted to exterminate all the Tuffles and Tuffle hybrids, starting today. We have orders to hunt down and shoot to kill those Tuffles.”_ Saying those words disgusted him a lot, it was the gut-wrenching feeling of the overbearing burden he was carrying. Bage was, again, shocked. Parsnap on the other end was thrilled.

 _“Finally some action.”_ Callio wanted to punch Parsnap in the face right now, but his psychological self-restraint was stronger than any trained man’s endurance to torture.

_“You two go out, call the units and start searching, I’ll be right behind you.”_

Bage and Parsnap walked towards the armory, getting ready while Callio was left behind. He just wanted to be someone else right now, on a different planet light years away from Corio. However he had to be strong for Fennle and for her son. He was their only hope in this situation. Now it was time to pre-plan and stick it to the emperor without losing his loved ones in the process. He passed by the armory urgently. He looked a little more relaxed now.

_“Hey guys. We’ll meet up at the coordinates marked on your scouters. That’s where we’re gonna start for this operation.”_

_“Hell yeah! Catch you there, boss!”_ Parsnap said cheerfully, almost pissing off Callio again with that awful attitude.

The leader quickly took off towards the coordinates, but then he suddenly veered off course, headed for Fennle’s home. He hoped his sister was indoors and not outside getting chased by IRS troops, and luckily the stars aligned just for him. She was indoors, completely unaware of what was about to happen. He slammed open the door, rapidly walking towards a very surprised Fennle.

_“Callio, what’s happening? Why are you here?”_

_“Fennle, the emperor wants to exterminate the Tuffles and Tuffle hybrids. We don’t have much time left before the IRS units find you too. They’re cleaning up entire neighborhoods and villages.”_

_“Oh goodness me…”_ She was as shaky as Callio was right now, but now that the leader shared the tension with someone he felt a little bit better.

_“Quick, grab Fannel.”_

_“S-Sure!”_ She marched towards Fennle’s small room, gently taking him on her arms. She returned to Callio.

 _“Alright. Now I must know this Fennle: where’s Arcus? He told me you work with him.”_ Fennle was a bit regretful for hiding that from him, but she had to for his safety.

_“...Just follow me and I’ll lead you to him. Why?”_

_“I must tell him, and you will stay safe with him.”_ Callio trusting Arcus? Was he losing it? Perhaps, but Arcus was the man he knew with the most moral integrity, and so hopefully he’d take care of Fennle in the best way possible in his hideouts scattered across Corio. After following his sister long enough they finally landed in what seemed to be an abandoned bunker hidden under an abandoned building. As soon as they slid inside the bunker they were greeting by blaster barrels pointed at their heads, but they quickly lowered them at the sight of Fennle. Everyone knew each other in that hideout, so it was only natural for them to greet each other politely. Eventually they met Arcus while he was talking with someone else before sending them away on a mission. The two leaders immediately locked eyes.

_"So you’ve decided to fight the good fight, haven’t you?”_

_“Don’t get the wrong idea.”_ Fennle quickly intervened before the two of them would start punching each other.

_“Callio said they’re starting to exterminate all other races on Corio but the Saiyan one. The emperor gave him the order and he had to carry it or else I’d be in danger.”_

_“Hm.”_ These were heavy news. _“Then this hideout may not be safe with all these people hidden. We should split up in several safehouses before they find this one out.”_

 _“You two do that. I need to go outside now, or else they’ll start suspecting me.”_ Arcus nodded. 

_“Go then. We’ll manage, and also… Thanks.”_

_“Tsk.”_ He silently left the base and took off towards the coordinates.

In that area marked by the coordinates, several lines of IRS troops mixed with the empire’s vast army marched towards a hot zone for tension among Saiyans and Tuffles. More often than not there’d be small insurrections popping up and quickly suppressed. Once more there was a protest mainly made by Tuffles of all kinds with few Saiyans here and there. Apparently word of the extermination spread quickly, and so they were terrified about what the incoming army would do. Fear led to anger, and so their protests turned into full-scale riots. For the longest time, the empire’s soldiers were always told to hold their fire to avoid making a mess that would plunge the empire into chaos, however this time each soldier was ordered to shoot on the big crowd clogging the entire main street. And so once they stopped they rose their blasters, firing all they had on the rioting unarmed civilians. Screams were muffled by the blasters’ loud gunfires, and many fell like ragdolls when hit by a projectile. The show was disgusting and lowly of a civilized race like theirs, however power and politics got to the emperor’s head, thus letting this happen. Callio, Parsnap and Bage all landed roughly at the same time, seeing only the streets covered in dead bodies and rivers of blood spilled over the search for power. Callio wanted to turn around and puke, but he had to man up and tolerate this psychologically to avoid being seen as a weakling.  
  
 _“Shit… Look at this mess...”_ Bage said, mouth agape. He had never seen something this fucked up before, for the right reasons too.

 _“We have a job to do, let’s get moving.”_ Parsnap said coldly.

In a matter of a few minutes, the entire city had gone silent. Whatever sporadic gunfire could still be heard now stopped. It felt dreadful. An entire city’s vibrant population reduced to a pile of blood and spilled guts. The air felt cold and deadly, and Callio couldn’t help but gag at the sight of burning piles of dead bodies of all ages. Their mission was done for that area, and while Parsnap and Bage left to return to the base, Arcus suddenly got in contact with Callio’s scouter. It seemed urgent, very urgent. He could hear gunfire on the other end of the conversation.

 _“Callio! They found us somehow! We tried to move to a safer hideout and IRS units started to chase us. We need your hel-AAARGH!”_ The conversation was cut short by Arcus’ scouter exploding. In that very moment, the IRS leader knew he was running against the clock to save Fennle and Fannel. He quickly took off in a different direction, marking Arcus’ scouter’s last location based on the signal given right before the explosion. He had to hurry, or he would never forgive himself for being too late.


	9. In the Land of the Blind...

Callio was flying as fast as he could.

He didn’t know what he would’ve found once he arrived there, and that terrified him more than anything else. An explosion and a deafening beep sound weren’t the best signs of a person being safe, especially when there was a systematic extermination plan currently being carried out. Realizing that he was the stooge in all of this angered him further, and that made him doubt his talents. Was he the leader of the IRS because of his skills, or because they needed some random young man to use for the emperor’s personal goals? While he was flying, he couldn’t help but ponder how many didn’t actually care about him even if they pretended to. He knew Bage and Parsnap respected Callio and even cared about him, but how could they understand the position he was in? The leader knew nobody could relate to his problems but maybe Arcus, who was currently under heavy fire. He looked at every village and city he passed by, hoping he wouldn’t see a repetition of what he had seen before during that protest. A delusional thought, definitely. In every city he passed by, the army was shooting at… Something, and he couldn’t stomach the thought of a military killing those they were supposed to protect.

Eventually he stopped in mid-air right above the partially destroyed town the coordinates on his scouter led him to. He looked around as he saw nothing but destruction and various corpses here and there, then he proceeded to land on the middle of a large street, hearing sporadic gunfire kilometers away from his position. Down to surface level he started to see a lot more bodies than anticipated, and that made his heart skip a beat in fear for Fennle’s safety. Suddenly, a voice called for him in a nearby damaged building. That voice was Arcus’

_ “Callio! Come here!” _ The IRS leader rushed towards his position, and he immediately noticed there was a pretty large wound on his chest, but not too big to be fatal, even if Arcus’ short breaths gave the opposite idea.

_ “Where’s Fennle?” _

_ “I-... They jumped at us and we were separated. Most of us were killed in that ambush from your men, and-” _

_ “They’re not my men anymore, but continue.” _

_ “...Well… Fennle should be on the end of this street. They barricaded themselves inside a tiny house.” _

_ “I’m going there right now. Can you walk?” _

_ “Yeah, I’ll catch up with you later.” _ Arcus said, clutching at his bleeding wound as he stood up, groaning in pain in the process. Callio sped outside of Arcus’ hiding place, running as fast he could towards the end of the street. He could already see the house in the distance, along with the broken debris and glass shards fallen from its walls. There was dead silence once he stopped in front of the entrance, so that didn’t give him the right feeling at all. The door had collapsed, therefore he was forced to vault through a broken window. He was frantically looking around himself, calling her name repeatedly. Every passing second made his heart bleed.

Then he suddenly heard a baby cry. It was muffled, so this baby must’ve been behind a wall or something. He started to search hurriedly, but at the same time he didn’t want to know what awaited him on the other side. Then he saw a collapsed wall which was probably used as cover for whoever was left fighting against the IRS. At first he was hopeful he wouldn’t see anything of importance, but then his eyes laid upon a dead woman clutching… Something. The baby’s muffled crying came from there, but the corpse had its back turned on Callio. He felt a thunder pierce through his very soul and a cold stick impale him through his heart. His knees were weak and his arms shook. 

  
It wasn’t her,    
it wasn’t her,    
it wasn’t her,    
it wasn’t her,  
it wasn’t her,  
it wasn’t her,  
It wasn’t her,   
it was her,   
it wasn’t her,   
it wasn’t her,  
it wasn’t her,  
it wasn’t her.   
  
Then he slowly moved towards the body, quivering with fear. He felt as weak as a scared puppy. He put a hand on the corpse’s shoulder and turned the body around.   
  
It was her. She died protecting Fannel. The gaping hole in her chest proved that.

Callio, to simply put, lost his marbles and then some. His breath quickened and his body shook from head to toe at the horrid sight before him. Fennle’s lifeless face had its eyes closed, and it was obviously pale. Fannel was crying right in her arms: the last thing on her mind before dying. Callio carefully grabbed the crying baby hybrid, weeping too with him. Both of them were mourning their shared loss. The leader couldn’t find a reason to justify himself for arriving too late, and now he paid the dearest price one can pay. He was speaking gibberish by that point, letting the tears fall down his cheeks and fall on the ground. Then Arcus came with slow steps, silently looking at the dead body and the man crying in front of it, along with a baby. He could tell what happened, and so he had a solemn look on his face. He had no words for this, but silence spoke volumes anyway.

For a part of Callio time had frozen there and then. He just wanted to lie down and die with Fennle next to him, but he still had a baby to protect. The IRS, the empire, the comrades at the workplace… None of that mattered to him now. He was dead set on a personal mission in order to ensure Fannel’s safety. He knew the IRS would eventually find the baby and kill him, so he needed to make a great sacrifice that would probably give him more enemies than anything else. He turned around to face Arcus, and with a pained face and a shaky voice he spoke to him for the first time in endless minutes.

_ “I need your help.”  _ And Arcus was quick to reply as he nodded, despite the pain in his chest.

_ “Let’s move outside. We can’t stay here for much longer.” _


	10. ...The One-Eyed Man is King

In a refuge far away from that cursed city they left almost immediately after Callio managed to regain a bit of mental stability. It was as clear as day that they had passed the point of no return without looking back, and so it was time to think ten steps ahead, as Blizzard said. They were hidden in a bunker, which meant Callio could at least relax for a bit, even if his heart was still broken after seeing Fennle’s nightmarish lifeless, bloody body. The two of them sat around a small fire, the light coming from it reflecting on their eyes. It was the only thing lit up in the entire bunker, keeping them somewhat warm even if Callio felt cold on the inside. Arcus’ wound was recovering luckily.

_ “So… What are you gonna do now?” _

_ “I need to get the fuck out of this planet and bring Fannel with me.” _

_ “They’re gonna follow you and hunt you down. You know that, right?” _

_ “Of course I do. That’s why I’ll leave as a dead person.” _

_ “Huh? You want to fake your death?” _

_ “Yes, and I need your help. I want you to shoot me in a non-lethal spot and then I’ll have an insider register me as clinically dead. After that I’ll sneak out and have Blizzard pick me up. He’s a friend of mine, trustworthy and all.” _

_ “I’m glad you have allies by your side, even in the worst times. But how will I be able to shoot you? I don’t have a rifle, and I’m not very good with Ki-based attacks from a distance.” _

_ “I’ll sneak inside the armory and give you a sniper blaster. I’ll tell you where to go and when. In favour I’ll give you clearance to access all of the IRS’ weapons and tech.” _

_ “Oh!”  _ Arcus was very pleased to hear this. It’d definitely help him for his fight.

_ “Don’t mention it. How ironic: we were just beating the shit out of each other days ago and now we’re here, discussing how to get rid of our enemies.” _

_ “Someone had to stand up to him and fight back. Many look up to me and hope I save them from this massacre. I’m trying my best, but sometimes it’s not enough and that frustrates me.” _

_ “I know that feeling too well unfortunately…”  _ And there he was again. Arcus broke the silence by standing up and walking towards the bunker exit.   
_ “I’ll wait for you, then.” _

_ “Yeah.” _

Callio then left the bunker with Arcus, parting ways for the time being. He took off in the middle of the night with Fannel still around his arms. For now the baby had fallen asleep, probably unaware of the big threat looming over both of them. The Saiyan entered his lonely house, putting Fannel on the bed as he didn’t have a cradle for him. Just to make sure he would accidentally turn and choke Fannel in his sleep with his body he decided to sleep on the couch for the night. He was about to fall asleep after eating a self-made dinner until his scouter beeped. Someone wanted to talk to him, and much to his pleasure it was Sarada.

_ “Callio! What the hell is happening?!” _

_ “...The emperor wants to get rid of all Tuffles and hybrids. I tried to help Fennle but... “ He had a lump in his throat at the mere thought and Sarada realized that she perished, even through a scouter conversation. _

_ “Oh shit, I’m so sorry Callio. I didn’t mean to-” _

_ “It’s fine, I think. Now Fannel’s sleeping on my bed, but I can’t keep going like this forever. Tomorrow I’m gonna have to disappear completely.” _

_ “But… What will I do then without you?” _

_ “No matter what happens, stay with your parents. Your safety is among my top priorities. I can’t afford to lose you too.” _

_ “...Good luck, then. Return whenever you can.” _

_ “I will, don’t worry.” _

With one last goodbye, the conversation was over and Callio was back alone with his own personal nightmares to worry about. He took one last glance at the sleeping baby before laying down on the spacious couch, putting the scouter on the coffee table and closing his eyes. All of what’s happened today really tired him down, and so he quickly fell asleep. The day after, Callio got up slowly and immediately went for the scouter, turning it on to get in contact with Arcus. He hoped he was awake too, so he sent him the coordinates to an abandoned village he flew past just yesterday. He had very little time to act, as Parsnap and Bage were definitely still in their homes and preparing for the day ahead of them, ignorant of the traitor right behind them metaphorically. He looked at Fannel again to make sure he was fine and then he quickly took off towards the IRS building one last time. This was going to be his goodbye to everything he knew on Corio, and it hurt him just thinking about leaving his home for a long time, forced for reasons of force majeure. He landed in front of the big building on the outskirts of a nearby large village, greeted whoever was already working inside and snuck inside Bage’s armory with his clearance level. He immediately grabbed a sniper blaster and quickly snuck outside, closing the door behind him. He then took a back door leading into the yard where the recruits would often train and march in groups, took off towards the coordinates and flew as fast as possible to avoid wasting time. He really hoped Arcus was going to be there, and thankfully for once he received good news: the older bastard Saiyan was there, feeling a little drowsy but still awake and on time nonetheless. He gently landed in front of him, blaster on display for him to see.

_ “Hm. This must be a very efficient weapon, coming from the IRS’ supply.” _

_ “Indeed. You’ll soon have access to all of it anyway, so I suggest you make great use of it while they still don’t know.” _

_ “I will. I appreciate what you’re doing for my cause.” _

_ “Don’t mention it. You stay here and wait for my return with Bage and Parsnap, then take me out. Got it?” _

Arcus nodded. _ “Yes.” _

_ “Good. See you on the other side.” _ He joked with whatever bit of humor he had left, taking off towards the IRS’ base to wait for Parsnap and Bage.

Parsnap was already there, keeping an eye on the recruits as usual. Callio walked towards him.

_ “Hey, the emperor wants us to clear a village not too far from here. Did he tell you? _

_ “Mmmh… Nope. I suppose that’s part of being the IRS’ leader: you know things we don’t know.” _

_ “Perhaps.”  _ Ohh Parsnap, if only you knew.

_ “So we’re waiting for Bage to show up then we go?” _

_ “Yup. It’ll be a quick clean-up job, nothing more nothing less.” _

_ “Great! I’ll finish with these guys then prepare myself.” _

_ “Catch you later.” _

Half an hour passed, and Bage landed in front of the entrance, greeting everyone as usual. Then he was summoned to Callio’s office, just like Parsnap.

_ “What is it, Callio?”  _ Bage asked.

_ “We have a mission to complete. There’s a village not far from here, and we must clean it up of all the Tuffles in it. Dead simple, let’s go.” _

_ “Gotcha. Let’s all meet up there, then.” _

_ “Yes.” _ Callio said as he left the office, an air of calm determination was definitely around him. Was he being too cocky and careless? Nah, hopefully not. 

The three men gathered in front of the village’s gates, and Parsnap blew them away with a well-placed yet loud energy blast. Bage rolled his eyes at Parsnap’s lack of tact and stealth, but he had gotten used to it by this point. The trio menacingly walked towards the relatively small village, noticing a lack of activity. Was everyone already hidden inside thanks to Parsnap’s blast? Probably. Bage wanted to scold him for that, but it was too late to cry over spilled milk. In the meantime, a couple of kilometers away from the trio’s position, Arcus carefully raised his sniper blaster upon hearing the gates explode and he immediately recognized both of them but not Bage. No matter, Callio was his target and no one else.

_ “Where the fuck is everyone?” _ Parsnap looked inside an empty shop.

_ “Parsnap, you scared them away.” _

_ “Yeah but we see them if they run and blast them to kingdom come!” _

_ “Callio?”  _ Bage looked at the leader, unsure if this village was actually full of people or not.

_ “What? They might be hiding in some shelter in the village’s center.” _

_ “I hope you’re right.” _

They kept walking and walking right in front of Arcus’ line of sight, however not a single one of them but Callio was ready for what was about to happen. Arcus shifted his aim towards the target, but right as he took the shot Bage walked in the line of fire. He was pierced by the blast, but luckily enough the hit didn’t pierce the entirety of his torso or else Callio would’ve gotten hit too. Parsnap and Callio’s eyes laid on the falling Bage.

_ “Ah!” _ It was sudden, and Bage didn’t even feel the pain until a bit later.

_ “Shit! Callio take cover!” _ However the leader grabbed Bage, trying to drag him to cover. In reality, it was all a ruse to give Arcus as much time as possible to shoot at him. Callio didn’t see this coming, and so he started to regret this a lot. This shouldn’t have happened, he didn’t deserve it. Arcus then took another shot, this time hitting the target dead center. Callio fell on the abandoned village’s cold ground, feeling his senses fade as he rapidly lost a lot of blood. The last thing he’d hear is Parsnap’s cries of anger as he retreated to call reinforcements. As Parsnap’s silhouette lost focus and became more distorted as he flew away and Callio’s sight weakened, the leader passed out. A worse fate would however come to Bage.

Then Callio’s eyes opened in what seemed to be the IRS’ morgue. His first thought was that the insider got the job done, judging by the fact that he was alive and he patched his wound in secret, and so he snuck out the morgue through a tiny window. Only once he felt his bare feet touch the grass he realized he was completely naked. Once a Saiyan died, his armor was taken away much like whatever article of clothing they were currently wearing and left in the village’s morgue to be buried. It was night, Callio could tell: had he passed out for that long? Jeez. He took off at full speed towards his home, going by memory as he didn’t even have a scouter anymore. He entered his home, put on a spare set of armor he never used once in his life along with a desaturated crimson spandex suit, then slowly walked towards Fannel. He was awake he could tell, and the baby smiled as soon as he saw his uncle’s face. Callio smiled back, finally happy for once in this cursed period of time.

_"We’re getting out of here, kid.”_ He grabbed the baby who remained silent and waited outside as Blizzard’s spaceship sneakily landed on the empty field surrounding his home. With a last silent goodbye to his home, his family, his planet and his dear ones, he flew inside the ship’s manhole, boarding it. He took a big sigh of relief and walked in the very dark cockpit lit up only by radars, LEDs and the stars in the sky that could be seen through the glass panels in front of the cockpit. Blizzard turned around as he approached Callio, letting his men control the ship for now.

_ “You’ve made it. Nice job.” _

_ “Thanks, but I owe the escape to you. I wouldn’t have made it without your ship.” _

_ “No need to thank me, that’s what friends are for.” _

_ “Yeah, friends…” _

_ “Also get a shower, you stink like an ape.” _

_ “O-Oh. Right. My bad.” _ He stormed out of the cockpit, leaving the baby in a self-made cot Blizzard prepared just for that occasion while Callio entered Blizzard’s room to take a shower. The two of them were comfortable in sharing each other’s personal space, so the Frost Demon probably wouldn’t mind him showering in his room. With the cold water running down his head and his torso he finally relaxed, knowing that he had in fact won against the emperor.

But the fight wasn’t over yet.


	11. Take The Glory

It was, unfortunately, an unexpected turn of events. And yet, it all started so well. Now Callio was alone and full of enemies, with Blizzard being his only moral support and Fannel being the child who should look up to his uncle with the absence of a mother and a father. He couldn’t help but blame himself for everything that has happened in the last days. With a morose look on his face of one who’s done something horrible but realized far too late, he stared at the futuristic cradle Fannel was in, noticing how he occasionally moved around to perhaps sleep in a more comfortable position. The day when his sister died, a part of him died too along with her, and now Fannel had to grow without her mother because of his delayed response to the imminent threat that regarded all Tuffles and hybrids, her included. It was gut-wrenching, and he couldn’t help but get teary-eyed from time to time as he saw that damned dead body, her lifeless closed eyes forever stuck in the older brother's head. Should he have tried to save both instead of just saving Fannel? Of course he couldn’t: one would’ve died anyway. Every time he saw Fannel’s eyes, he was reminded of Fennle. Was that his punishment for allowing this to happen? Perhaps, but he couldn’t simply roll over and die and leave Fannel alone in a dangerous world. He knew Blizzard simply couldn’t handle children for obvious reasons. Sarada on the other end was now very far from Callio's position, told by him to stay safe at home with her parents until the status quo would change thanks to Arcus' efforts, for how small they were sometimes. The fact that she was pregnant with his child made it all the more difficult. They had to stay away from each other to avoid gathering unwanted attention, unfortunately.

Then there was also Bage, who accidentally walked in front of him right as the sniper he hired was about to shoot him to fake his death. Just like that, Bage bled out in front of Parsnap and Callio, the former expressing himself with pure anger mixed with sadness. Only later Callio realized how much he hurt Parsnap’s psychological health just with that idiotic stunt of his. He didn’t know exactly how Parsnap felt since he left very soon after that accident, but he could tell this was going to return to him in the future. Someday Parsnap would find out and start hunting Callio down, and only then it’ll be a showdown for the books. The way to Hell is paved with good intentions, and Callio paved it with sweet, high-quality marble. Everyone he knew now viewed him as an enemy or a dead person, or probably both, and this hurt Callio more than anything else. How can one fall from grace so quickly? But of course, he had to choose between the empire and his family, and he made the right call. Blizzard then eventually arrived, his boots making a low-pitched noise which eased the pain for a little bit.

_"Feeling better?”_

_“I… Don’t know, honestly.”_

_“We’re landing on Earth in about two hours. If you need something…”_

_“It’s fine, Blizzard. I already owe you one after what you’ve done for me.”_

_“It’s not important. You needed help, I helped you. That’s what friends are for.”_ Callio chuckled to that statement. He felt awful.

_“I hope I’ll be a decent enough father for Fannel, even if I’m not really one.”_

_“Seeing how much you care about him, I’m sure you’ll do a fine job.”_ Blizzard paused, then resumed his speech.

_“What will you do after you land on Earth?”_

_“I’ll raise Fannel in the best way possible. Then I’ll have to return to the empire and untie some loose ends with that bastard of an emperor.”_

_“I’ll help you then.”_

_“Don’t risk your life, though.”_

_“You can’t tell me what to do!”_ He joked as he left back for the cockpit, preparing to arrange the landing phase. Callio was left to himself again, this time staring at the window which showed the big blue lively ball called Earth. The engines started to rumble several minutes later, and that was a signal that he needed to prepare for the imminent landing. He walked towards Fannel, picked him up and started to walk towards the boarding area. He clutched on that baby as if his life depended on his survival. Then he locked eyes with the baby: it felt like Fennle was looking at him through them, as if they were still back on that planet and it was all a bad nightmare he should’ve woke up from any second. Eventually he smiled as he was reminded of his sister, this time in a positive way. Her spirit lived on in Fannel’s and maybe, just maybe, that was a positive sign of the days to come. He had to be strong for him, for her and everyone left who still believed in him.

This was his greatest test of endurance, and by God he was gonna pass it.


End file.
